Page 80 of The Abandoned Princess

I darted forward and grabbed her arm, my desperation overriding my earlier awe. “Let Xander and me go!”

“Why would—” She cut off her own request, her mind clearly working through every angle of my plea. “You want the chance to undo your own enchantment. That’s understandable but not enough on its own. But you’re right on the other counts too. This isn’t a battle that will be fought with swords, and you know Eulalie far better than any of us. And you’re the only two immune to her enchantments.”

“We are?” Xander asked, clearly bewildered.

Celeste looked to me. “That’s what you were going to say, wasn’t it?”

I nodded.

She looked around at the others and said only, “The earrings.”

“I’m afraid I still don’t understand,” Lori said, so Celeste continued.

“When Daisy was under the enchantment, she saw Eulalie’s true face and she was wearing my stolen earrings. When the enchantment was lifted, she saw only the earring’s facade. When the enchantment was renewed, she saw her true face again. Anyone connected to Eulalie by the ring’s enchantment—this bubble that Xander spoke of—is immune to the effects of any other objects she wields. Plus, if they arrive after she casts the enchantment on my husband and daughter, they will still be able to see and speak to them. Eulalie made a fatal mistake when she reconnected Daisy and Xander to herself and her ring. So that means they’re the two with the best chance of stopping her.”

We all stood in silence, absorbing her words. She looked pointedly at me and then Xander.

“So go!” she exclaimed. “Quickly!”

CHAPTER 24

We lurched into movement, turning toward the door.

“I’ll show you the way.” She picked up her heavy, formal skirts and sprinted out into the corridor.

We followed, and I was soon panting. Celeste was clearly in far better shape than she appeared.

I expected us to be heading to the throne room or somewhere else equally important, but Celeste led us outside of the palace altogether. She slowed her pace considerably once we were free of the building, leading us through a thicket of trees.

“Thankfully, they will have taken a long time to get here,” she said. “Earlier, this whole space was full of cheering crowds come to see them make their way to the pavilion. It will be full of crowds again to see them emerge, but this whole area is supposed to be clear for the actual ceremony save for a few guards.”

“So we need to make sure no one sees us go in or out,” Xander said, picking up on the significance of her words. “Or it could jeopardize the validity of the handover.”

She nodded. “Which is another reason I can’t go myself. Marie, Rafe, Cordelia, Ferdy, and the children are expected to lead the crowds’ return, along with my mother-in-law and me, of course. If any of us are missing, there will be questions. And as a princess of Lanover, I am particularly suspect. I will be their queen, but not until they have assured themselves that the jewel glows around my husband’s neck.”

“We understand,” Xander said. “We’ll deal with the situation and get ourselves, Eulalie, and Danielle out as discreetly as possible.”

A guard appeared in front of us, and both Xander and I stopped. Celeste kept going, however, merely nodding to the man and beckoning for us to continue.

“One of your agents?” I guessed.

She gave me a tight smile. “Let’s just say that he can be trusted not to breathe a word of us having been here.”

“I’m glad you work for the good of all the kingdoms these days,” I said in an awed tone.

She smiled again. “Just don’t let a Northhelmian hear you say that. When there aren’t any issues of succession in the mix, they’re very proud to have me as their own.”

A small building appeared on the other side of the trees, presumably the pavilion she had mentioned. It looked like a gazebo with enclosed sides, and I guessed there was only one room inside.

Two guards stood at attention in front of the closed door, and Celeste led us back into the trees so we could circle around to the rear. Windows ringed the building, so it was easy to locate one out of sight of the door guards.

We all crouched beneath the chosen window, and Celeste carefully raised her head high enough to look inside.

“What can you see?” I asked. “Is Eulalie in there?”

“As far as I can see, she’s the only one in there.” Celeste didn’t have to say more for us to know what that meant. Eulalie had already enchanted the others.

But had she done anything else to them?

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